Other news

17/06/2018 -- Elgar Festival 2018

David was involved in three events at the recent Elgar Festival in Worcester, which saw the performance of two arrangements - String Quartet in E Minor (Elgar arr. Matthews) and Sospiri (Elgar arr. Matthews) - as well as David’s String Quartet No.6.

See the photograph in the gallery of David alongside Elgar’s bust and Kenneth Woods, the artistic director of the festival.

17/06/2018 -- Reaction to the premiere of David’s Ninth Symphony

The premiere of David's Ninth Symphony took place in Bristol during early May. As Richard Bratby of The Spectator describes, 'The audience at St George's Bristol - where Kenneth Woods conducted the world premiere with the English Symphony Orchestra - actually cheered, and Matthews's habit of writing recognisable melodies might have helped there. One tune (and that really is the word) in the fourth movement was so unabashedly cheerful that I found myself thinking: he'll never get away with this.'

18/06/2018 -- CD out now: Sixteen Contemporary Love Songs for Piano

Features David's work A Love Song.

See full recording details and listen to a sample.

05/12/2018 -- News from the mixing desk (updated December 2018)

David’s Thirteenth Quartet was recently recorded for release on CD in the New Year. In addition to the customary four string players, the work features four singers and was written in memory of a close friend, Peter Sculthorpe. Musical Opinion (Oct-Dec 2018) described its performance in July by the Kreuzer Quartet, alongside singers Rebecca Lea, Jess Dandy, Will Dawes and James Robinson, as 'A moving tribute to a fellow composer and a searching addition to a genre which David Matthews has made his own.' Paul Conway goes on to call the Thirteenth Quartet a 'tightly written piece that covered a vast spectrum of emotion in a short space of time. There was quirkiness and wit as well as noble tranquillity in a persuasive premiere performance of great warmth and humanity.' Hear the Thirteenth Quartet together with David’s Eighth and Fourteenth Quartets on the Kreuzer’s upcoming 2019 disk with Toccata Classics.

David's Symphony No.9 was recorded for release on CD in early 2019. Due to appear on the same Nimbus disk are two pieces for strings, Double Concerto and Variations for Strings. This extends David’s association with the English Symphony Orchestra both through their 'Matthews in the Heart of England' concert series, and as their John McCabe Fellow.